On Soviet-Canadian treks to North Pole in 1988, 1992, and 1995, recounted by one of each of them.
Polar Attack.
Weber, Richard and Mikhail Malakhov. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1996.
- 1988-95 Canadian-Russian Journeys to North Pole.
- Arctic Reading: Russia
Preview
The White Betrayal.
Unger, Hellmuth. Translated by Derick Wulff. New York: Brentano’s, 1928.
- 1881-84 International Physical Year US Expedition to Lady Franklin Bay (led by Adolphus Greely).
- Arctic Reading: United States
Preview
Translation of Eisland, a romanticized juvenile novel about the Greely expedition, concentrating on the last year, what he calls “the greatest tragedy in the annals of the Arctic” (pace Franklin, etc).
Obituary: Vilhjalmur Stefansson 1879-1962.
Sullivan, Walter. Geographical Review 53 2 April 1963, p. 291.
- Arctic Reading: United States
Preview
The polar collection that Stef assembled in his later years was initiated by a gift to him of three hundred books by the American Geographical Society. By now the collection, the property of Dartmouth College, numbers some twenty-five thousand bound volumes and forty-five thousand manuscripts, pamphlets, and the like. His widow, the former Evelyn Schwartz Baird, is still its able librarian, and until the end Stef could be seen quietly at work in a corner of the stacks that hold this vast assemblage of polar information.
Saga of the “Discovery.
Bernacchi, Louis Charles. London: Blackie, 1938.
- 1901-04 British National Antarctic Expedition (Scott aboard Discovery).
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
Preview
Bernacchi was an Australian/Belgian explorer, another veteran of the heroic age of polar exploration, having participated in Borchgrevink’s Southern Cross expedition, Scott’s Discovery expedition, as well as journeys to Africa and Peru. He was also the biographer of Lawrence Oates, who died on Scott’s last expedition.
Alone in Antarctica.
Aston, Felicity. With a Foreword by Joanna Lumley. Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint, 2014.
- 2011-12 British Solo Ski Crossing of Antarctica.
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
Preview
Aston crossed Antarctica alone and unsupported in 59 days. Her book, hyped as a riveting adventure, is to my mind a rather tepid affair though describing an unusual and impressive accomplishment. She apparently took no books or print with her but jokes about her experience with modern audio practice.
Arctic Experiences: Containing Capt. George E. Tyson’s Wonderful Drift on the Ice-floe, A History of the Polaris Expedition, the Cruise of the Tigress, and Rescue of the Polar Survivors. To which is Added a General Arctic Chronology.
Tyson, George Emory. Edited by Euphemia Vale Blake. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1874.
- 1870-73 US North Pole Expedition of Charles Hall (aboard USS Polaris).
- Arctic Reading: United States
Preview
A fascinating account of an extraordinary drift on an ice-floe, preceded by “A General Arctic Chronology” by the Editor, E. Vale Blake, (p. 19-74).
Count Benyowsky; Or The Conspiracy of Kamtschatka: A Tragic-Comedy.
Kotzebue, August von. Translated by Wilhelm Render. Second Edition. London: Printed for W.J. and J. Richardson, 1798.
- Arctic Reading: Russia
Preview
Kotzebue, a German dramaist wrote this play about Benyovzky in 1798.In 1769, while fighting for the Polish armies under theBar Confederation, he was captured by the Russians and exiled toKamchatka. He subsequently escaped and returned to Europe viaMacauandMauritius, arriving in France.
Lost in the Arctic, Being the Story of the ‘Alabama’ Expedition, 1909-1912.
Mikkelsen, Ejnar. London: William Heinemann, 1913.
- 1909-12 Danish Expedition in Search of Mylius-Erichsen (aboard Alabama led by Ejnar Mikkelsen).
- Arctic Reading: Europe including Scandinavia
Preview
p. 171: When I got back to camp Iversen has prepared a little feast. He has opened a new case of provisions in which we find two cigars, that Laub had packed away as a surprise for us. They are pretty badly damaged, but we fix them up somehow, and are soon enjoying the rare treat of a good smoke, together with the further delight of looking at the pictures in an old number of an illustrated paper that had been used to pack them in. The sheets are greasy and torn, but we put the pieces carefully together—here is reading matter for many days, even though we take a little foretaste of it now by glancing at the text here and there. There are bits of several stories, with neither beginning nor end, but that doesn’t matter—we make up the rest ourselves—a splendid way of passing the time, and an excellent subject for conversation on lying-up days.
Scott, Shackleton and Amundsen: Ambition and Tragedy in the Antarctic.
Thomson, David. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2002 [1977].
- Heroic Age 1901-1921.
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
Preview
A revision of a pre-Huntford critical work on Scott, though he says he didn’t know he was writing a “debunking” biography in 1977. Doesn’t have the acerbic bite of Huntford, but has something critical to say about all three of his subjects.
N by E.
Kent, Rockwell. New York: Brewer & Warren, 1930.
- 1929 Private US Voyage to Greenland (aboard Direction with Arthur Allen and Rockwell Kent).
- Arctic Reading: United States
Preview
An account of Kent’s small-boat journey with Arthur Allen on the yacht Direction from New York to Greenland, its wreck, and other adventures.
Of Whales and Men.
Robertson, R. B. New York: Knopf, 1954.
- 1950-51 British Whaling Expedition (aboard Southern Venturer).
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
Preview
A delightful account of a ship’s doctor on an 8-month cruise of a whaling factory ship, with something of a psychological emphasis on the men he was with, and several references to his shipborn reading.
The Narrative of Captain David Woodard and Four Seamen, who Lost Their Ship while in a Boat at Sea, and Surrendered Themselves up to the Malays, in the Island of Celebes; …Holding Out a Valuable Seaman’s Guide… .
Woodard, David. London: Printed for J. Johnson, 1804.
- 1793-96 British Officer Voyage. Shipwreck of America and Survival (Captain David Woodard).
- Global Circumnavigations and Cape Horn Transits.
- Maritime Reading
Preview
Introduction by William Vaughan is a veritable guide to reading for seamen. On January 20, 1793, Woodard, an English officer, “sailed as chief-mate in the American ship Enterprise, captain Hubbard, from Batavia, bound to Manila” (p. 2). In seeking provisions, Woodard in a small rowing boat with sail, and with five other sailors, was soon separated from his ship with no water, food, or compass. After other misadventures they fought with some Malays who killed one of their men and then stole the boat, leaving five men stranded and fleeing into the jungle. The Narrative is the rest of the story, plus a series of appendices telling other shipwreck tales.
Jack in the Forecastle; or, Incidents in the Early Life of Hawser Martingale.
Sleeper, John Sherburne. Boston: Crosby, Nicholas, Lee, 1860.
- Whalemen's Reading
Preview
Sleeper was an American sailor, journalist, and politician who was Mayor of Roxbury, Mass., and a member of the Mass. Senate. As a novelist he used the pseudonym of Mawser Martingale, and I suspect this book is autobiographical fiction. He went to sea as a cabin boy in 1809, age 15, and the book is about his first command in the merchant marine in 1821.
The Big Ship: An Autobiography
Larsen, Henry A. Toronto: McClelland & Stuart, 1957.
- Arctic Reading: Canada
Preview
On the first commercial vessel to transit the North West Passage.
The Log of the Scotia Expedition, 1902-4.
Bruce, William Speirs. Edited by Peter Speak. With a foreword by Sir Vivian Fuchs. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1992.
- 1902-04 Scottish National Antarctic Expedition (Bruce on Scotia).
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
Preview
First Edition of the narrative of the 1902-04 Scotia Expedition to the Antarctic, published 90 years later, including Bruce's log, photographs, and plans as originally intended. Speak has added an introduction, explanatory notes, and a glossary of scientific terms.